Poetry Africa | since 1997

21th Poetry Africa 16- 21 October 2017

ABOUT POETRY AFRICA

University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) is proud to announce the 21st edition of Poetry Africa International Festival scheduled to take place from 16 to 21 October 2017 in Durban, KwaZulu Natal. Poetry Africa provides a space for intercultural exchange and dialogue by hosting an extensive community outreach programme with poetry performances, readings and workshops in community centres, campuses and also participate in a programme of visits to schools across Durban to share ideas about poetry.

Curated by Mandi Vundla, the festival will showcase spoken word mavericks from the South Africa, Zimbabwe, Spain, Ukraine and Reunion Island. “We are a rhythmic continent, rich in poetic culture and the CCA is a proud custodian of one of the platforms that allows for this celebration of lyrical musicality and the gathering of brilliant minds whose sole purpose for a week is to engage in a spoken thought movement that challenges our world views and awaken emotions dormant within us, whose existence we may have not recognized”, says CCA’s acting director Chipo Zhou .

Festival activities will take place primarily at Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre (Howard College) and BAT Centre with workshops and community outreach programmes at different venues around Durban. “A very important objective of the CCA is to see the community we live in develop the various artistic talents and afford them the platform to showcase their work as a stepping stone to greater heights.Our community engagement begins in high schools, where young creatives unencumbered by the burden of societal expectations can freely express their sincere opinions and emotions by putting ink to pad. Cultural exchange takes place in our community programmes, as a way to open up global perspectives to our local emerging poets and also equally important, an immersion of the Kwazulu-Natal hospitality and social experience for our guests as something to take away with them and maybe even add to their artistic experience. We encourage poets from all over Durban to attend these workshops at the various venues to enrich the platform with their presence and participation”, adds Zhou.

Tickets for the evening sessions, which take place at 7pm at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre and 7pm at BAT Centre can be purchased at Computicket or one hour before the performance begins at the box-office. Each tickets costs R70. For more information go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za or like the Facebook page Poetry Africa or follow on Twitter @PoetryAfrica. For general inquiries call (0)31 260 2506/1816 or email Maju Radebe at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Presented by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal), the 21st Poetry Africa is made possible by support from the eThekwini Municipality, KZN Department of Arts and Culture, Alliance Française de Durban. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the School of Arts, College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

21th Poetry Africa Poster
The Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) in collaboration with the Durban University Technology’s Department of Visual Communication Design is delighted to provide some insight onto...